The function to mark the release of my book `Learning Across Continents - My Academic Odyssey`, saw the presence of colleagues, friends, students and well-wishers. The book was formally released by the renowned violinist Dr. L Subramaniam, the well-known playback singer Dr Kavita Krishnamurthy Subramaniam, the public intellectual and leading citizen of Bengaluru Mr Mohandas Pai, the veteran academician Dr S. Sadagopan and Trustee, Nitte Education Trust Mr Rohit Punja. It was attended by colleagues and students from all the four institutions I worked - Bangalore University, Jain University, Jagran Lakecity University and Nitte University. It was a wonderful evening of reflection and re-connecting. The book is now available for sale on Amazon.

Famous for the inspiring slogan, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, Lal Bahadur Shastri prime Ministership saw India ensuring respect for the farmer and the soldier. In his brief yet eventful tenure of nineteen months, he resolved some of the most contentious problems facing the country, by taking all segments of society along. The book takes a closer look at his pioneering efforts at ensuring self-sufficiency in foodgrains by ushering in the Green revolution. As the inspiration behind the original ‘surgical strikes’, it also highlights the laudatory manner in which Shastri motivated the soldiers to effectively respond to Pakistan’s military adventurism, by giving the Green signal to the military to enter Pakistani soil. Insightful, thought-provoking, and written in a lucid style by one of India’s most respected political commentators, Lal Bahadur Shastri focuses on the leader greatest strengths—integrity, humility, simplicity and a self-effacing nature.

This book demonstrates the close relationship between religion and democracy in India. Religious practice creates ties among citizens that can generate positive and democratic political outcomes. In pursuing this line of inquiry the book questions a dominant strand in some contemporary social sciences - that a religious denomination (Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and so on) is sufficient to explain the relationship between religion and politics or that religion and democracy are antithetical to each other. The book makes a strong case for studying religious practice and placing that practice in the panoply of other social practices and showing that religious practice is positively associated with democracy.

This book is a comprehensive analysis of the Fourteenth Lok Sabha elections in 2004, using a large amount of empirical data from across the country. It examines the mandate of the 2004 elections, the shift in political dynamics over time, the era of coalition politics and the increasing influence of regional and state parties at the centre.